Update:

On Thursday July 27, 2017 an influential U.S. House committee approved a revised version of the bipartisan bill discussed below, that would speed up the development of self-driving cars without human controls and bars states from blocking autonomous vehicle technology. After being greeted with increasing support in the House, automakers and technology companies believe the chances that Congress will approve the legislation before the end of the year are good. The current federal rules bar self-driving cars that don't contain human controls from U.S. roads, and automakers think that proposed state rules in California are too strict to promote the swift development of completely self-driving cars. While the companies are pushing for regulations to make deployment of self-driving technology easier, consumer groups have continually been seeking more safeguards.

The House of Representatives will vote on the bill when it reconvenes in September. Under the House proposal, states could still set regulations on registration, licensing, liability, insurance and safety inspections but states would not be permitted to set performance standards for the self-driving cars.

House representatives have expressed concern that millions of exempted cars will hit the road around the same time, so the initial proposition to allow automakers to sell up to 100,000 vehicles immediately will probably be changed in later revisions of the bill. Consumer advocates are concerned about giving the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration quicker access to crash data as well as more funding to oversee self-driving cars.

If a version of this bill does not pass the House of Representatives there will likely be a move of U.S. self-driving testing to other countries where regulations are less strict.

Original Article: On July 19, 2017 a U.S. House panel approved a very broad proposal about self-driving vehicles. The approved proposal will now allow automakers to deploy up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles without requiring the manufacturers to meet existing automobile safety standards. The approved proposal also bars states from imposing driverless car rules on the vehicles. You can view the text of the bill here http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20170719/106309/BILLS-115pih HighlyAutomatedVehicleTesti-U2.pdf

The proposal came after data from 2016 confirmed that it was the most deadly year on American roads since 2007, with vehicular deaths rising 7.7% from 2015 to 2016, the highest annual jump since the 1960's. The increased number of death and bodily injury was largely attributed to lower gas prices and increased motor-vehicle mileage as well as an increase in participation in risky activities while driving, like speeding and driving while distracted. Drivers in the past few years have been increasingly distracted, in particular- by their cell phones. So much so that the State of Washington has recently enacted a new “E-DUI” law that prohibits driving under the influence of electronics, specifically cell phones. (For more information on the E-DUI law, please see New Type of Ticket.). In response to the high numbers of death and devastating injury on the roads, the head of the Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee overseeing consumer protection proposed the bill.

This is the first significant federal legislation that is aimed specifically at expediting the push of self-driving vehicles to market. Although the bill does not require automakers to receive approval of advanced vehicle technologies prior to a market release, the bill does require submission of safety assessment reports to U.S. regulators. The laws that are in place now prevent the sale of self-driving vehicles without the option of human controls. Many of the nearly 75 car safety standards must be met by automakers under current legislation. Many self-driving vehicle laws were initially written with the expectation that a licensed driver will have the option to control the vehicle at any given moment.

Several companies that produce autonomous vehicles have been lobbying Congress to prevent rules under consideration in a few states that could limit the development of self-driving vehicles. Under the proposed rule, states can't set self-driving car performance standards, but states would still have the freedom to set rules on regulation, licensing, insurance, liability, and safety inspections.

The bill may see some changes before it reaches the full committee, who is expected to vote on the proposal next week. The full House of Representatives won't see the bill until they return from their summer vacation in September.

The implications of this bill are huge. While there are many advocates of self-driving vehicles, the advocates stress safety as being the main advantage. Without having to adhere to certain safety standards, this bill puts that at risk. There are still many issues to be worked out with true self-driving vehicles. See Autonomous Vehicles for an in-depth view of the issue.